Catalogue

There is always a strange period in the production of a book between the approval of the plotters from the printer and receiving the final product. It’s a waiting game; you have to be patient.

Until then you have only seen the book in fragments: as text documents, layout files with low-resolution positionals in place, or printouts that are never actual size because you need to fit the whole spread onto A3 paper. Finally, after months, sometimes years, in the making, it is transformed into a real book.

School of London

American-born RB Kitaj (1932–2007) was one of the leading artists on the London art scene during the 1960s and 70s. He was in the same circle as Hockney, Freud and Auerbach and coined the phrase “School of London” to describe a group of artists who were creating figurative work at a time when abstraction was at the fore.

Before his death Kitaj offered to donate the prints still in his studio collection to the British Museum, a wish that was honoured by his estate. The works, the majority of which are unique artist’s proofs, now sit alongside pieces by great masters such as Degas and Rembrandt.

Sometimes projects come along that have a personal link. For me, this one ticked all the boxes. I first encountered Kitaj at school – my grandmother said I should study him for a project. After that his work was always on my radar.

Study room

One of the main attractions of working at the British Museum for me was the access to the prints and drawings department. I had visited the study room before during my A-level art course and had always wanted to return – I didn’t realise at the time that it is open to the public to visit.

One of the highlights of this project was at the very beginning when Jennifer Ramkalawon, the author, showed me and the book’s designer, Thomas Manss, some of the prints in the study room – it brought it all to life.

Although Kitaj never ceased to make prints during his career he did fall out of love with them at times – even threatening to destroy many of them. He didn’t and we have had the pleasure of making this book, which I hope will become the key reference for Kitaj’s prints for years to come.

Claudia Bloch is a senior development editor at the British Museum Press.
 
Kitaj Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné has been published to accompany the exhibition Arcimboldo to Kitaj: Recent Acquisitions at the British Museum (until 1 September)